False-alarm-preventing device.



J. JANIK.

FALSE ALARM PREVENTING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 9. 1915.

Patented Oct. 5,1915.

2 SHEETSSHEET I COLUMBIA PLANOORAPH 60., WASHINGTON, B c.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 9. 1915.

Patented Oct. 5, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPM- (0.,WASHINOTON, D. f

. application and in which like-designating.

JOHN JANIK, 0F PLYMOUTH, PENNSYLVANIA FALSE ALARM-PBEVENTING" DEVICE..

To all whom-it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN JAMK, subyect of the Emperor of Austria-Hungary, res1ding at Plymouth, in the county of Luzerne and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in False-Alarm-Preventing Devices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in false alarm preventing device- The primary object of this invention is to provide an attachment for a fire-alarm box for preventing persons from turnlng in false alarms, which frequently causea needless. expenditure of time and money on the part of the fire department. 7

A further object of the device is to provide an inexpensive means whereby the hand of the operator who manipulates the fire alarm is retained in locked position within the alarm box until released by an authorizediperson and whereby, not only the exact location but the actual existence of any fire may be positively ascertained by the firemen upon reaching the box from which the alarm call emanated.

With these general objects in view and others that will appear as the nature of'the invention is: better understood, the same con sists in the novel combination ment of parts hereinafter. more fully de scribed, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, claims.

In the drawings forming a part of this characters refer to corresponding parts throughout the several views-,Figure 1 is an interior view of a fire alarm box provided with the present device, a portion thereof being removed, and the elements being shown in their normal operative position. Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view upon line 11-11 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 with the elements shown as positioned after being operated by a persons hand, the latter Fig. 4' is a transverse sectional View taken upon line IV-IV of Fig. 3 a portion of the alarm box and door being also illustrated, and Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the hand engaging locking cuff. 1

Referring more in detail to the drawings, a fire alarm box 10 of substantially the'usual construction is herein illustrated provided with a side portion il'hinged as at 12' and Specification of Letters Patent.

and arrange' and pointed out in the appended 1 bar 30 carried by being shown in dotted linesf Patented Oct. 5, 1915.

Application filed June 9, 1915. Serial No. 33,124.

havinga lock 16 whereby the box may be opened by an authorized member of the fire department.

A substantially U-shaped frame 1% is mounted upright within the alarm box and is provided with slightly-resilient parallel rods 15 of conducting material and forming the normal open circuit terminals for the line wires 16 of the fire alarm. circuit, it be ing understood that the said terminal rods are insulated from the frame 11. A switch arm 17 is horizontally journaled in the frame 14: longitudinally of thebox and is provided with a turn knob 18 at the end thereof adjacent the front wall or side 19 of the box, which side 19 is provided with a hand entrance opening 20 in substantial alinement with the knob 18. The switch bar '17 is provided upon its opposite sides with switch blades 21 formed of conducting wire and arranged in oppositely positioned U-shaped loops, it being understood that the switch bar 17 is formed of an insulating material.

A lever 22 is pivoted within lugs 23 carried by the door of the frame 14 and has a link 24 suspended from its rear end, the said link being provided at its lower end with an open ring or loop 25 adapted for hooking engagement with the hooked rear end 26 of ranged within the frame 14% being secured to the bottom of the box as at 28 and having attaching rods 29 attached between the tops thereof and the lever 22 by means of a crossthe said lever at a point forwardly of the pivoting means 23 thereof, it being noted that the-said links 29 slidably extend through the perforations 31 in the top of the said frame 14:. v

A hand engaging cuff 32 has an upwardly extending arm 33 slidably extendingth rough a bracket 34: carried by the wall 19 directly above its opening 20 and the upper end of the said arm 33 is pivotally connected to the forward end 35 of the aforementioned lever 22 by'means of a ring and slot connection 36.

A toothed rack 37 spans the lever 22 and is adapted to be engaged by a spring-pressed pawl 38 carried upon the upper side of the said lever.

The complete operation of the device will be at once apparent from this detailed de scription thereof, it being understood that the hand 39 of the person desiring to manipulate the fire alarm, is entered through the forward opening 20 of the boX and whereby the knob 18 may be readily turned for shifting the switch members 21 into closing contact with the slightly resilient terminal rods and thus completing the electrical circuit of the fire alarm system, it being noted that the said rods 15 are slightly bowed outward, by the circuit closing engagement of the said members 21 as illustrated in Fig. 4 and thus insuring greater protection to the formation of an efficient electrical contact. This turning of the switch bar 17, unhooks the ring 25 from the bar hook 26 and the lever 27 being thus released, the springs 27 draw the outer end of the lever 22 with the cuff 32 forcibly downwardly and so as to engage the said cuff 32 with the wrist of the operator. The pawl 38. ratcheting downwardly over the teeth of the rack 37 automatically engages such teeth in such a manner as to present any reverse movement of the lever 22 until the pawl 38 lever and cuff 82. The alarm may then be turned off by shifting the switch to its open position, while the fraud preventing device may be reset byengaging the link ring 25 with the switch bar hook 26.

While the form of the invention herein shown and described is what is believed to be 7 the preferred embodiment, thereof, it is nevertheless tobev understood that minor changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

WVhat I claim as new is 1. A false alarm preventing device coniprising in combination with an alarm box having a hand-entrance opening'in the wall thereof, a rotatable operating switch bar within the said box having a hooked end, a pivoted lever, a trip link connection .between the said lever and the said hooked end of the switch bar, a wrist-engaging cuff pivoted'to the said lever above thesaid opening, a cross-bar carried by the said lever,

operating tensioning means for the said cuii' connected between the opposite ends'of the said cross-bar, and the'bottom of the said box, and a return-preventing pawl and ratchet device for the said lever.

' 2. A device of the class described comprising an alarm'box having a hand-entrance.

opening in the forward side thereof, a U- shaped frame within the said box, a switch hooked end of the bar,-and a wrist-engaging cuff operatively connected to the forward end of the said lever and a box opening. a

3. A device of the class described comprising-an alarm box having a hand-entrance opening in the forwardside thereof, a U-shaped frame within the said box, a switch operating bar journaled in the said frame and having a hooked rear end, a turn knob upon the inner end of the said bar, in-

lj acent the said wardly of'the said opening, 'a lever pivoted substantiallycentrally of the top of thesaid frame, a detachable linkiconnectionbetween the rear end of the saidlever and the sa d hooked end of the bar, a cross-bar carried by the said lever forwardly of the pivotal point thereof, compression springs connected between the opposite outer ends of the said cross-bar and the bottom of the box, a-

toothedrack spanning the said lever forwardly of the said cross-bar,- a spring- I pressed engaging pawl for the said'rack mounted upon the said lever, a guide secured to the side of the boX directly above the sale opening therein, a wrist engaging cuff positioned above the'said opening, an arm carried by the said cuff and slidably in onntedin the said guide and having a ring and slot connection with the forward end of the said lever. v:

4- A device of the classdescribed compris ing an alarm box having a hinged side door and a hand-entrance in its forward s1de,- a frame within the said box, parallel circuit terminal rods-secured to the said frame, a

switch bar jonrnaled in the said frame in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the said rods, oppositely. arranged 'U-shaped plate wires carried by the said bar and having a path of movement in the same plane as the said rods, hand-turningmeans for the said switch bar, and an automatically operated wrist-engaging cuff arranged directly above the said opening and having a path of move-' ment transversely thereof.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses. V JOHN JANIK.

Witnesses:

\V. J. Pisznzn'r, PETER TIKosKr'.

P f this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents Washington, I). G. V 

